To protect a young boy, former SEAL Ryker Baptiste faked his own death. He made a promise to the boy’s mother, and he will move heaven and hell—even pretend to be dead—if that’s what it takes to keep the boy safe from his terrorist father.

Ryker’s former CIA handler Mia Shaine lost her job because of him. Now she has one chance to stop the terrorist he failed to eliminate and secure her return to the Agency. But it will mean hunting down a dead man and convincing him to once more be her partner.

Ms. Evans’ new series gets off to a great start–it grabbed me from page one and just wouldn’t let me go until I’d turned the last page. I loved both Mia and Ryker as characters–throw in the fact that they’re spies on an undercover mission, and yeah, I’m pretty much a goner… 😉

The action here is non-stop, as is the danger–sure, their romance is more than a little insta-ish (they knew each other briefly in the past, from a distance–Mia was Ryker’s handler for the mission that changed both of their lives forever, but they’d never met in person), something the characters themselves actually address at one point.

“I’ve known you forever, at least that’s how it feels, and fieldwork counts for weeks, not days. Months, even. Those kinds of situations bring out the best–and worst–of people, and you passed with flying colors.”

Yeah, that worked for me, too…I felt like I aged a year or two reading this one; it was so edge-of-my-seat stressful! (But in the best way, of course…)

This is the first book in her new series, a spin-off of her SEALs of Shadow Force one. Several of that series’ characters do make appearances here (Queen B is in charge of this division too) but you don’t have to be familiar with them or their books to enjoy this book. If you’re new to Ms. Evans, this is a great place to start!